These clever 'Super Mario Maker' stages are just a taste of what's to come

Super Mario Maker is still roughly three weeks away yet in order to generate reviews, Nintendo has already handed out the game to members of the press. What makes the game so special isn’t the ability to craft your own levels but to share them with others.

As Polygon recently found out, early birds have already uploaded a number of mind-bending levels that anyone can try out. Here are their favorite five thus far.

The first stage, Enjoy Mr. Blue Bones’ Wild Ride, comes from YouTuber ProJared and is an autonomous stage. By that, I mean you simply sit back and watch the magic of Mario’s progression without lifting a finger (ok, so you do need to walk Mario through the front door to get the party started but that’s it). The level of complexity here is absolutely stunning – if one auto-action is mistimed, the entire course is ruined.

The Riddler: Prologue by Nefarius takes the action in a different direction, requiring logic rather than an abundance of skill to complete. It’s built in the image of New Super Mario Bros. for Wii and as the publication concludes, it’s like a puzzle that’s trying to repeatedly off you.

Vertical Bowling from user Dalagonash is exactly what it sounds like. As you progress through the stage, you’re tasked with hurling objects upwards to kill enemies and collect points. The catch is that you only have a limited amount of time to rack up your score.

Super Shmup Bros. from Andre GX is a Super Mario Bros. 3-esque auto-scrolling stage in which the Fire Flower is your best friend. You’ll need to navigate the treacherous skies – it gets very crowded at times – as you progress to the end boss. Curiously enough, you don’t actually have to defeat said boss to complete the stage.

Winners Don’t Do Shrooms (or, what’s a great slogan for the D.A.R.E. program) from Kocobe penalizes users for collecting mushrooms. A series of checkpoints that only small Mario can make it through keep players honest. If you do accidentally touch a shroom, you’ll need to get tagged by a Piranha Plant to shrink back down.

This last clip from YouTuber PixelKabinett is a bonus for Metroid fans. Dubbed Metroid U, the stage is a homage to the popular franchise and was built because, well, Nintendo hasn’t released a proper Metroid game since 2007’s Metroid Prime 3. This may be my favorite Super Mario Maker creation yet as it includes many of the features – backtracking, boss fights, power-ups and more – that make Metroid so special. The only hindrance is the 500 second time limit, something that unfortunately can’t be changed. With any luck, Nintendo will adjust this with a future patch.

I don’t know about you, but I could see myself investing a lot of time in Super Mario Maker.